Rotary shaft seal



May 14, 1940- R. w. cHRl'sTMAN ET AL 2,200,413

' ROTARY SHAFT SEAL Filed Dec. '18. 1938 vl E m. w M. m E L w :Patented May 1:4, 1940 man?,

l uNlrED sTArgs i PATENT. -ol-ilicylaz' i I I .Ro'ranzgr SEAL i l .l l

, Robert W. Christman, Pontiac, andv Willett J.

McCartney, Royal Oak, Mich.,

assignor to A i f Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application lmembei-V s, 193s, serial no. 244.626' 1 claim. (ci. 2st- 11) Our invention relates to animprovement in shaft seals, particularly seals for rotary shafts extending into a casing within which one pressure exists from a space in which another pressure exists. In particular, the invention 4has great utility in sealing' the shaftiopening of a refrigerant compressor comprising a casing within which a low pressure, corresponding to the suction pressureof a refrigerating system, exists during operation ofthe compressor and a high pressure, corresponding to the balanced pressure of a refrigerating system, exists when the compressor is-not in operation. In such'a system the suction pressure may be as .low as ve or ten pounds per square inch during operation of the compressor and the interior of the crankcase may be subjected to a pressure as high as eighty pounds per square inch when the compressor is not in operation. Accordingly, the seal must be capable of excluding the atmosphere at certainv -ftimes When a partial vacuum exists in the casing, and must be capablev of resisting an out-rush of valuable lrefrigerant at., other times when the hard composition, the stationary sealing ring bel/ ing seated upon a resilient gasket whereby to prevent the escape of gas or the admission of air be tween vthe adjacent surfaces of the stationary sealing ring and the casing, and the rotary seaiing ring beingl engaged by a resilient sealing member which prevents the escape of gas or the ad# mission of' air between the adjacent surfaces of the shaft and the rotaryfs'ealing ring. Inforder to be certain that such a pressure is exerted against -the rotary se'alingmember as to cause its wearing' surface to engage the adjacent wearing lsurface `of the stationary sealing member at ,all times, there isusually provided a compression spring bearing against a shoulder. on' the shaft, which spring also forces the resilient ring into sealing engagement with-the rotary sealing member. `,Our invention has to do in particular with an' im- Jv'-provement in the contour and-shape of the resilient sealing ringengaging the shaft and the rotary sealing member, whereby the life of this type Vist usual practice to' form the resilient sealing ring of an artificial `rub-- ber composition such as Neoprene, which is a composition lof well known formula and charv acteristics. This sealing member was usually formed so as to be as unyielding to deformation as possible'while yieldingsuiciently to .permit the rotary sealingmember to remain seated. re-

gardless of any variations in contour of thel seal#` ing members. After considerable use the resi-lient 'sealing ring appears to become permanently attached to the vsurface ofthe shaft which it engages, the attachment becoming firmer the longer the 'seal remains inuse so that in some cases the resilient member becomes as firmly bonded to the surface of the shaft as if it had been vulcanized member to the shaft the compression spring,

which tends to force the rotary'sealing memberly after the engaging surfaces of the sealing members have worn to considerable extent; or if the spring is strong enough. the material of the resilient ring cracks or tears, and no matter how minute such cracks may'be the sealksoon fails to operate satisfactorily. 1t isthe object'of our invention to so form the resilient sealing member as to' permitthe resilient `sealing member vto become bonded to the shaft while permitting the compression spring-to force the rotaryA sealing member into engagement with the stationarysealing member regardless .of the amount of wear of their engaging surfaces.

A further object of our invention is to permit a new seal'to seat itself immediately regardless of the thickness or variation in resistance to yieldving of any gasket such as is commonly used to lseat the stationary sealing member of this type of seal. Other objects and advantages of our irivention should be apparent of those skilledin the art 'after perusal of the accompanying drawing and the following description wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

, In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a vertical'cross'section through a, form of compressor, the compressor being shown to illustrate the applicationof our invention to any machine; and Fig. 2 is an en- Vlargeddetail sectionv taken along line 2-f2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to Eig. 1, there is disclosed acomthe resistance/ thereon. Due to this attachment offthe resilient l presser-comprising al casing. Ill in-.which is' mounted a shaft Il operating'pistons I2 to compress refrigerant, in a'mannerv more fully de.

'scribed and mastratedin the cri-pending appunt-v 5 f in the lower portion of the casing I0 and forces oil into a tube I5 and thence into the bearings and pistons of the compressor. The oiling member I4 is retained in position by a locknut I6 which is screwed onto the shaft and forms a l0 shoulder thereon upon which is seated a compression spring retaining cup I1. It is, of course, apparent that the locknut I6 and retaining cup I1 form one means of seating a compression spring upon, and so as to rotate with, the shaft l5 II and that other 'means may be provided as space and circumstances permit. The shaft I'I extends throughan opening inthe casing which is provided with an annular recess in which is seated a gasket 22, the gasket beingformed of a 20 resilient material im'mune lto the attacks of refrigerant and oil, such as Neoprene The gasket 22 provides a seat for a stationary sealing member 23 which surrounds the shaft II at a slight space therefrom in order to permit the 25 shaft II to rotate freely therein. The inner suri face of the stationary sealing member 23 forms a sealing surface whichis engaged by the outer surface of av rotary sealing member 24 which is' i' likewise slightly spacedfrom the shaft II. -The rotary sealing member 24 is encircled by`a band 25 which is provided with an inwardlyextending flange against which the compression spring 20 thrusts. Between the flange of the Vband 25 and the rear. surface of the rotary sealing member 24 there is positioned the outwardly-extending annular-fiange 26 of a resilient sealing member 21,

'also made of material such as Neoprene,. which A band 30. is preferably provided to surroundthe 40 reduced portion of the member 21 and to hold.

engages and grips the surface of the shaft il the same in rm'engagementwith the surface of the shaft. It can be seen that the spring 20 causes Isealing engagement of the iiange 26 withV the rotary sealing member 24, and that when the 5 seal is new and properly adjusted the spring 20- will cause the resilient sealing member 21,-rotary sealing member 24 and stationary sealingmember 23 to slide along shaft I I and to compress the gasket 22 until the stationary sealing member -23 is firmly seated.

Upon rotation of the shaft the engaging surfaces of the sealing members 23 and 24 gradually wear away, andif the resilient sealing member 21 lhas becomermly bonded to theshaft II it is conceivable, and oftenhap'pens, that the spring can nolonger; force the two hard sealing surfaces into engagement with the result that a. charge of refrigerant becomes lost. -In order to permit the resilient sealing member 21 to become rmly 50l bonded to the .shaft without destroying the usefulness of the seal, we have provided an annular recess 3| inV the shaft engaging surface of the member'.21at the end thereof adjacent'the rotary sealing member 24 and opposite the spring 20. The recess 3i is preferably of a depth sub stantially .as great as the width of the flange 26, or stated in other words, the recess is of auch character as to cause the flange 26 to be adjoined to the body of the` member 21 by a narrow strip of material having strength to hold against the rupturing forces encountered but permitting.

fiexure ofthe ange -26tova far greater extent than would be the case if the recess were not present.l With our improvement the member 21 may become firmly bonded to the shaft I Land in the event that considerablewear of the engaging surfaces of members 23 and 24 occurs. thesprlng 20 acting upon the inwardly extending flange of band 25 causes the flange 26 tobend forward while still retaining sealing engagement with the rotary sealing member 24. "I'he recess 3l permits the flange to bend forward without tearing.

away from the body of the resilient sealing member since there is suiiicient room for the material adjacent the angle between the two parts of the member to deform and flow into unoccupied space;

Having described the preferred. form of my invention it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications in detail and arrangement thereof are permissible within the purview of the following claim. l

We'claim:

In a shaft seal for sealing,the shaft opening i through which a rotary shaft extends .from a casing, said seal comprising an annular, stationary gasket seated in said casing at the inner edge of the shaft opening, a stationary, hard sealing member seated upon said gasket and loosely surrounding said shaft, a rotary, hard sealing member loosely` surrounding said shaft, said hard sealing members having adjacent surfaces in running contact with each other for sealing the casing, a resilient sealing member comprising a portion Asurrounding and gripping said shaft in sealing engagement therewith and a flange ex-y tending radially therefrom and having a surface in sealing`engagement with the surface of said,

rotary, h'ard sealing Amember opposite the sealingr surface thereof, va shoulder on said shaft, and a compression 'spring .compressed between said shoulder and said flange whereby to force the resilient sealing' member, the rotary, hard sealing member, the stationary, hard sealing member, and the gasket intoflrm engagement with each other and-to firmly press said gasket against said casing; the improvement comprising an improved resilient`sealing member having an annular recess therein at the juncture of the surface engaging and gripping the shaft and the sur-'- face engaging saidV rotary, hard sealing member, said. recessf being `oi' sufficient depthl that the flange of said resilient sealing memberis supported by a relatively narrow ring of resilient ma- Vterial'permitting exure of said ange with re- .'spect to said portion surrounding and gripping the shaft and saidrecess also providing a free space adjacent the surface ofthe vshaft within which material of id flange may be forced to accommodate rela ve movement of the flange and the portion surrounding and gripping the shaft during stretching of said ring of resilient material in response to the thrust` of said spring causing said rotary, hard sealing member to move away from said shoulder and toward vsaid gasket as the engaging surfaces of said hard sealing noBER'r w. cHmsmAN. wnmn'r J. Mccoarnnr. 

